Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 22
Śalya-hatānantarāṇi: Madrarāja-padānugānāṃ praskandana and the Pandava counter-encirclement (शल्यहतानन्तराणि—मद्रराजपदानुगानां प्रस्कन्दनम्)
नवं ततो<न्यत् समरे प्रगृहा राजा धनुर्घोरतरं महात्मा । शल्यं तु विव्याध शरै: समन्ताद् यथा महेन्द्रो नमुचिं शिताग्रै:
navaṁ tato 'nyat samare pragṛhya rājā dhanur ghorataraṁ mahātmā | śalyaṁ tu vivyādha śaraiḥ samantād yathā mahendro namuciṁ śitāgraiḥ ||
Sinabi ni Sañjaya: Pagkaraan, sa gitna ng labanan, kinuha ng marangal na hari ang isa pang bagong busog, higit na nakapanghihilakbot kaysa dati, at sa mga palasong matatalim ay sinugatan niya si Śalya mula sa lahat ng panig, gaya ng ginawa noon ni Mahendra (Indra) kay Namuci sa mga palasong matutulis ang dulo.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores kṣatriya-dharma: even a righteous ruler may be required to act with decisive, formidable force in war, not from hatred but from duty and strategic necessity. The Indra–Namuci simile frames the act as archetypal victory over a powerful adversary.
Sañjaya describes Yudhiṣṭhira taking up a new and more fearsome bow and surrounding Śalya with volleys of sharp arrows, wounding him from all directions—likened to Indra’s piercing of the asura Namuci.
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